Powers which allow the Government to impose bin taxes on the whole country without consulting Parliament have been brought in by stealth.
A little-noticed clause in the Climate Change Act means all councils are free to adopt charges of up to £100 - without MPs voting on the issue first.
The Conservatives said the revelation was an 'outrage'.
They likened it to ship money, the tax levied by Charles I without the consent of Parliament - one of the causes of the English Civil War.
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This week sees the deadline for councils bidding to run the first payasyou-throw pilot schemes.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed that powers in the clause will allow any pilot scheme to be implemented across every council in England by ministerial order.
